"Steward Warren, here are ten thousand taels of silver. Please give me twenty second-grade Xuan Pills." Song Yan smiled as he handed the banknote to Warren Ward, the steward of the Pill Hall.
Warren Ward took the banknote, tossed Song Yan two bottles of second-grade Xuan Pills, and whispered, "Kid, the sect has rules—Outer Sect disciples are limited to two bottles of second-grade Xuan Pills per month. This is already your third time. Don't come again this month!"
Song Yan pocketed the bottles and grinned, "Alright, next time I'll send someone else!"
Returning to the courtyard with two bottles of second-grade Xuan Pills, Song Yan tossed them to Tyson and Wes.
Since switching to the Sunflare Art, their cultivation had advanced rapidly. In less than a month, they had broken through two realms to the peak of third-layer Qi-Refining, thanks in no small part to Song Yan's support with pills.
"Thank you, Young Master!"
The two bowed with gratitude. Their Young Master treated them so well—first teaching them a Profound-rank cultivation art, then letting them eat second-grade Xuan Pills worth 500 taels apiece like candy.
"Cultivate well!"
After reminding them, Song Yan returned to his own room.
His spiritual sense was powerful, and every time he cultivated, he absorbed a huge amount of heaven and earth aura. So even without taking pills, his cultivation progressed much faster than others.
He could already sense that it wouldn't be long before he broke through to the sixth layer of Qi-Refining.
That afternoon.
Evan Lin and the others hurried to Song Yan's courtyard.
"Did something happen?" Song Yan asked.
"Boss, the sect just issued a notice—three days from now, there's going to be a Grand Sect Tournament!" Evan Lin said excitedly.
Seeing everyone's excitement, Song Yan couldn't help but ask, "What's so special about this Grand Sect Tournament?"
"Of course! The prizes for this tournament are incredibly generous!" Evan Lin said, his excitement showing.
"Oh?" Song Yan looked at Evan Lin, waiting for him to continue.
"Boss, did you know? This Grand Sect Tournament is divided into four brackets: Outer Sect, Inner Sect, Elite Disciples, and Core Disciples. As long as you make it into the top ten of the Outer Sect, you'll get one Breakthrough Pill and ten thousand taels of silver, and the sect has extra rewards for the top three."
As for the Inner Sect, the rewards are even better: top ten get three Breakthrough Pills, one hundred thousand taels of silver, and a low-grade spirit weapon! The top three get double.
Breakthrough Pills are a miraculous kind of pill. After taking one, you can directly break through a whole realm. Of course, they're extremely expensive—ten thousand taels of silver for a single pill.
As for spirit weapons, it's worth mentioning how weapons are classified in this world.
Weapons are divided into ordinary weapons and spirit weapons.
Ordinary weapons are split into low-grade, middle-grade, and high-grade; spirit weapons are ranked from grade one to grade nine, with grade one being the lowest and grade nine the highest.
Even the lowest, grade-one spirit weapon costs at least a hundred thousand taels of silver.
At this point, Evan Lin swallowed and said, "The Elite Disciple rewards are even richer. If you make it into the top ten, you get three second-grade Breakthrough Pills, ten third-grade Xuan Pills, five hundred thousand taels of silver, and a spirit weapon. The top three get double rewards."
The Core Disciple rewards are even more extravagant, but they haven't been announced yet. Boss, we have to congratulate you! You can beat Inner Sect disciples, so the top three in the Outer Sect are basically yours!
"Yeah, Boss, congrats!"
Faced with Evan Lin and the others' compliments, Song Yan just waved his hand. "Top three in the Outer Sect? That's nothing. If I'm competing, I'm going for the top three in the Inner Sect!"
"Whoa, Boss, did you already break through to the sixth layer of Qi-Refining?" Evan Lin asked curiously.
Song Yan shook his head. "Not yet. By the way, when does the tournament start?"
"Three days from now. I heard the Outer Sect will have a written test first, then the Inner Sect tournament will follow," Evan Lin replied.
Hearing this, Song Yan's eyes lit up as a bold idea formed in his mind.
Three days passed in a flash.
On the Outer Sect Martial Arena Plaza, a hundred arenas had already been set up.
The rules for this tournament were simple and brutal, and the competition was scheduled across three days.
On the first day, nearly thirteen thousand Outer Sect disciples were divided into one hundred thirty groups, with only one person promoted from each group.
On the second day, the one hundred thirty winners were re-divided into thirteen groups, again with only one promotion per group.
On the third day, the thirteen remaining contenders battled for the top ten and received their rewards.
Grouping was decided by lottery. Song Yan drew number 809 and was assigned to Group Nine.
So, after the lottery ended, Song Yan headed to Group Nine.
Each arena had an Outer Sect steward acting as referee.
Coincidentally, Song Yan saw Gavin Quinn and Galen Long in Group Nine.
The Outer Sect steward stood on the platform, looking down at the hundred Outer Sect disciples, and announced loudly, "Now, we'll begin the first round of today's competition. The format is a ring-holder battle. Each of you will take a turn as the defender; win three matches in a row to stay for now. If you don't meet the standard, you're eliminated. So, who will challenge first?"
No one moved.
"Hurry up, don't waste time!" the steward urged impatiently.
"I'll go!"
Song Yan leapt onto the platform.
"Which brother or sister would like to come up and offer some guidance?" Song Yan looked around and spoke calmly.
Still, no one moved. Everyone knew Song Yan was the guy who could beat Inner Sect disciples—who would want to go up and get humiliated?
"You have ten breaths. If no one steps up, this disciple will advance directly!" The steward was clearly annoyed by the disciples' timidity.
"Senior Brother Huang, please give me some pointers!"
With no other choice, a dark-skinned young man jumped onto the stage.
"Please," Song Yan nodded.
"Dragon-Slaying Blade!"
The disciple shouted and charged, swinging his blade. Bright saber-light roared toward Song Yan.
Bang!
Song Yan kicked out, booting his opponent straight off the platform.
"Next challenger!" the steward urged again.
In the next two minutes, Song Yan easily sent two more challengers off the stage.
"Very good. You don't need to participate in this round anymore. Go wait on the side," the steward said coolly to Song Yan, then continued overseeing the matches.
After Song Yan left the stage, Gavin Quinn jumped up.
He was just one step away from reaching the sixth layer of Qi-Refining, and had also mastered a two-star martial skill. His strength was no weaker than a lower-ranked Inner Sect disciple, so he breezed through the first round.
After an hour and a half, the first elimination round on Arena Nine was over—seventy were eliminated, leaving thirty.
The steward's voice rang out again: "Now, the thirty of you, hand over your number tags."
"Yes!"
Song Yan and the others quickly handed in their number tags.
The steward tossed all thirty tags into a sealed box with a fist-sized opening, shook it, then drew two tags and announced, "Number 807 and Number 895, step up! Winner stays!"
Immediately, a man and a woman jumped onto the stage.
After a brief greeting, the two began to fight.
The man wielded a pair of short spears, while the woman, interestingly enough, used two short swords.
Their cultivation was about equal; they exchanged over two hundred moves before the winner was decided—the woman with the twin swords emerged victorious.
The steward drew two more tags from the box and called out, "Number 809 and Number 825, come up!"
"It's my turn already!"
Song Yan leapt onto the stage without hesitation, and saw Gavin Quinn follow him up.
Song Yan grinned, ready to teach this guy a lesson.